Chamath Palihapitiya’s AI coding startup 8090 Labs raised a $135 million Series A led by Salesforce Ventures, and Palihapitiya says he’s stepping in as CEO as he pushes an enterprise-focused AI coding agent built for corporate teams.
Chamath Palihapitiya has been watching the AI coding wave crest for a long time. Now, the moment has arrived—and he’s choosing to jump in as the one steering the ship.
On Monday, Palihapitiya announced that 8090 Labs, the AI coding startup he founded, closed a $135 million Series A. The round was led by Salesforce Ventures. with participation from Jeffrey Katzenberg’s WndrCo. David Sacks’ Craft Ventures. fellow All-In hosts. and “besties” from David Friedberg’s The Production Board and Jason Calacanis’ Launch. Angel investors included Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora and Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo.
The company’s target market is corporate development teams, not hobbyist experimentation. Palihapitiya founded 8090 Labs in January 2024 to offer an AI coding agent designed specifically for corporate programming. Its product. Software Factory. is positioned as a way for corporate coders to use AI to build production-quality software rather than “vibe-coded prototypes.” The company also promises enterprise controls. including audit trails.
The raise didn’t just bring new capital—it also changed Palihapitiya’s role. On X, he said he will lead the startup as CEO, moving from board member to day-to-day operator.
Palihapitiya framed it as more than a career pivot. In his post. he compared today’s AI rush to the rise of social media in his own timeline. when he was an early executive at Facebook long before the company became Meta. Since leaving Facebook, he wrote that he’d been waiting for a full-time operating moment to return. “I am convinced that what we are building now is even more important. ” he added. saying there was “no decision to make except to be all in.”.
What’s striking is how tightly the story ties money, product, and leadership into one decision. A $135 million Series A is backing a push toward enterprise-grade AI coding—with audit trails and other controls—and Palihapitiya is insisting he won’t just oversee it from the sidelines.
Chamath Palihapitiya 8090 Labs Series A Salesforce Ventures AI coding agent Software Factory audit trails enterprise software Venture capital WndrCo Craft Ventures
135M?? so he’s basically coding now too? feels like another hype wave.
Not gonna lie, I read “AI coding agent” and assumed it’s like ChatGPT but for PRs lol. Enterprise controls/audit trails sounds good though, but is it actually secure or just paperwork?
He’s stepping in as CEO now? I swear every time I hear Chamath it’s “jumping in” like he just watches the thing and then suddenly runs it. Also audit trails… that’s what we need for AI?? I thought the whole point was speed, not more logs.
Salesforce Ventures led it so I’m guessing this is gonna get integrated into some Salesforce dev tool and lock everyone in. “vibe-coded prototypes” is kinda funny but like… won’t the agent still mess up the code? And if it’s for corporate teams, that probably means slower releases and meetings forever.